In recent years, many consumers have discovered the convenience and economy of purchasing goods and services electronically. A number of channels for electronic purchases (commonly called “e-purchases”) are available, including shop-at-home television networks, call-in responses to television advertisements, and the like. Most recently, direct purchasing via the Internet has become extremely popular.
In a typical Internet transaction, a consumer generally identifies goods and/or services for purchase by viewing an online advertisement such as a hypertext markup language (HTML) document provided via a World Wide Web (WWW) browser. Payment typically occurs in various ways. One such way is via a charge card number that is provided via a secure channel such as a secure sockets layer (SSL) connection that is established between the consumer and the merchant.
While millions of such transactions take place every day via the Internet, these conventional SSL transactions often exhibit a number of marked disadvantages. Although SSL typically provides a secure end-to-end connection that prevents unscrupulous third parties from eavesdropping (e.g., “sniffing”) or otherwise obtaining a purchaser's charge card number, the protocol does not provide any means for ensuring that the charge card number itself is valid, or that the person providing the card number is legally authorized to do so. Because of the high incidence of fraud in Internet transactions, most charge card issuers consider network transactions to be “Card Not Present” transactions subject to a higher discount rate. Stated another way, because of the increased risk from “Card Not Present” transactions, most charge card issuers charge the merchant a higher rate for accepting card numbers via electronic means than would be charged if the card were physically presented to the merchant.
To improve the security deficiencies inherent in transporting charge card numbers over unsecure networks, many have suggested the use of “smart cards”. Smartcards typically include an integrated circuit chip having a microprocessor and memory for storing data directly on the card. The data can correspond to a cryptographic key, for example, or to an electronic purse that maintains an electronic value of currency. Many smart card schemes have been suggested in the prior art, but these typically exhibit a marked disadvantage in that they are non-standard and typically require the merchants to obtain new, proprietary software for their Web storefronts to accept the smart card transactions. Moreover, the administration costs involved with assigning and maintaining the cryptographic information associated with smart cards have been excessive to date.
Another standard, the Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) standard has been suggested to improve the security of Internet transactions through the use of various cryptographic techniques. Although SET does provide improved security over standard SSL transactions, the administration involved with the various public and private keys required to conduct transactions has limited SET's widespread acceptance. SET also requires special software for those merchants wishing to support SET transactions.
Additionally, existing digital wallet technology, such as the digital wallet technology provided by, for example, GlobeSet, Inc., 1250 Capital of Texas Highway South, Building One, Suite 300, Austin, Tex., 78746, is being more frequently used to provide a means for users to utilize transaction card products (e.g., credit, charge, debit, smart cards, account numbers and the like) to pay for products and services on-line. In general, digital wallets are tools which store personal information (name, address, chargecard number, credit card number, etc.) in order to facilitate electronic commerce or other network interactions. The personal information can be stored on a general server or at a client location (PC or Smartcard) or on a hybrid of both a general server and a client server. Presently, the digital wallet general server is comprised of a Web server and a database server which centrally houses the user's personal and credit card information, shopping preferences and profiles of on-line merchants.
A digital wallet preferably performs functions such as single sign on/one password, automatic form filling of check out pages, one or two click purchasing, personalization of Websites, on-line order and delivery tracking, itemized electronic receipts, and customized offers and promotions based upon spending patterns and opt-ins. More particularly, a one-click purchase activates the wallet and confirms the purchase at the same time. A two-click check out first activates the wallet, then the second click confirms the purchase. In use, the wallet bookmark is typically clicked by the user and an SSL session is established with the Wallet server. A browser plug-in is executed and the user supplies an ID/password or smart card for authentication in order to gain access to the wallet data. When shopping at an on-line merchant, the appropriate wallet data is transferred from the wallet server to the merchant's Web server.
Existing systems, however, generally require that a merchant initiate changes to accommodate each different smart card or wallet. Accordingly, a new system of conducting electronic transactions is desired which would provide improved security with minimal overhead for users and merchants. Moreover, such a new system should integrate well with various smart cards and Internet wallets and other services provided by various merchants without requiring the merchant to make substantial changes to permit use of different systems.